Spa City official: Arms show is no place for semiautomatics

Published 8:27 pm, Monday, December 31, 2012

Linda Sehlmeyer, owner of The Gun Shop at MacGregor's in Lake Luzerne, places revolvers in a display case for the Arms Fair on Friday, Aug. 28, 2009, at the City Center in Saratoga Spring, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The city's top public safety officer said Monday that weapons like those used in the Newtown, Conn., school shootings should not be displayed at an arms show in the Saratoga Springs City Center.

Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen will present a resolution to the City Council on Wednesday, urging exhibitors at the Jan. 12-13 gun show not to display "semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines of the type used in the Newtown tragedy."

"We recognize the constitutional and lawful purchase, sale and ownership of guns according to state and federal law," the resolution states. "We must also recognize, however, that the Newtown tragedy, so recent in our memory, has caused profound grief and sorrow across our nation. News of the tragedy has been particularly difficult for young children."

The resolution has at least the partial support of the gun show's promoter, David Petronis, president of New Eastcoast Arms Collectors Associates. He said last week he will ask exhibitors and members not to bring magazine-fed, semiautomatic rifles or look-alikes to the January show, though he would allow those guns to be displayed as "undertable stock or in a box."

Mathiesen's move comes amid fierce debate and petitioning over the upcoming event, even as Mark Baker, president of the City Center, says the gun show will be held.

More than 1,100 mostly local residents signed an online petition asking that the center cancel the show. The petition was started by Susan Steer, a nurse in the city. An opposing petition created by Robert LeClair, a gun owner in Hudson Falls, says the show at the center should go on. It was signed by more than 1,200 people over the weekend.

The Saratoga Springs City Center hosted a record number of events last year and wants to build a parking garage on city land. It is operated by an authority whose members are nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council.

The center has a contract with Petronis for the upcoming show, but city leaders should still address the issue in light of the deadly Dec. 14 shootings, Mathiesen said Monday.

The primary weapon used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack was a Bushmaster AR-15 assault-type weapon, which is legal in New York, according to police. The military-style rifle is known as the civilian version of the M-16 used by members of the U.S. military. The gunman in the school shooting used a rifle with numerous 30-round magazines, according to authorities. New York law permits magazines for up to 10 bullets.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday in City Hall.

"I think there is a sentiment in the community that people would rather not have these weapons brought into our community at all," said Mathiesen, who works as a dentist. "The City Council really does not have direct control of the city center shows, but I do think we should take a stand on this."